A Knight's Oath
by BritannianNight
Summary: A prequel to my other story, Blazing Sword. The main pairing here is Kent/FemTact.
1. Prologue: A Girl from the Plain

**A/N: Okay, yes, I know the other story isn't finished. And I'm also putting the prologue in this one, for the readers who don't know who Saige is, and the ones who have read the other story, go ahead and skip right past this.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING REMOTELY RELATED TO FIRE EMBLEM—WHICH MEANS I DON'T OWN HECTOR OR ELIWOOD OR IKE OR SOREN OR ZELGIUS T.T—BECAUSE IF I DID, IKE WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT TELLIUS FOREVER, ZELGIUS NEVER WOULD HAVE DIED, AND THE TACTICIAN FROM THE BLAZING SWORD WOULD BE ABLE TO ROMANCE. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR SLIGHT ADDITIONS TO THE PLOT, AND MY TACTICIAN, SAIGE.**

_Once, dragons and men coexisted. They shared a peace forged in wisdom, a peace that lasted many generations. All that was lost when mankind disrupted this balance in a sudden onslaught. Man fought dragon in a savage war that shook the foundations of their world. This war was called The Scouring. Defeated and humbled, dragons vanished from the realm. In time, man rebuilt and spread his dominion across the land and on to the islands beyond. A millennium has passed since those dark days ended._

**Prologue—A Girl from the Plain**

"Are you awake? I found you unconscious on the plains."

My eyes fluttered open when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Crouched down beside me was a young woman—no older than I, perhaps sixteen or seventeen? Her hair was long and a moss green color, and tied up in a ponytail. Her clothing was strange…it was weaved with colorful patterns along the neckline.

"Who are you?" All I could remember was heat, the sun, and hunger. The only clue to where I was was this woman—I would guess Sacae, which would explain the hunger and the heat—I must've been lost and run out of food.

"I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. You're safe now." So I had been correct when I had guessed that she was from Sacae. "Who are you? Can you remember your name?" Lyn proceeded to question me.

I paused, trying to recall my past, "My name's Saige."

"Your name is Saige?" she looked a little confused. I supposed it wasn't a very common name…I wondered if my parents were particularly fond of the herb sage. Or maybe one of them was a Sage? I didn't remember. "What an odd-sounding name... But pay me no mind. It is a good name."

I nodded, personally agreeing with her.

"I see by your attire that you are a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?" I didn't remember anything about my past. I opened my mouth to say so, but there was a noise from outside. It was faint, like it was a loud sound, but it was far away.

"What was that noise? I'll go see what's happening. Saige, wait here for me." Lyn swiftly stood and left me behind.

Taking the time for myself, I glanced around the small hut. It was obviously nothing too terribly extravagant—strange that I'd notice that first…perhaps I'd been a noble or at least known one?

Throwing the blankets back, I swung my legs out of the bed. I recognized my green cape—which was draped over the edge of the bed—and quickly pulled it over my shoulders and clasped it. It was smooth and soft as silk, yet thick enough to be warm. The clasp was of jade—this piece of clothing was clearly not cheap. If I hadn't been a noble, or been good friends with one, then I had at least gotten a pretty good wage wherever and whoever I had worked for.

My long brown hair was drawn back in a loose ponytail—I reached back and pulled it out, letting it spill down my shoulders and back, the way I liked it. It was clean and untangled—how long had I been out? Lyn must've washed it. The hairband that Lyn had used to tie it back was evidently one of hers—it was crisscrossed with different Lorca patterns, done in beads on the stretchy fabric. I slipped it around my wrist, deciding to keep it for a souvenir of sorts.

I heard the pounding footsteps moments before Lyn rushed into the room. "Bandits!" she was breathless. "They must have come down from the Bern Mountains! They must be planning on raiding the local villages." She paused. "I... I have to stop them! If that's all of them, I think I can handle them on my own. You'll be safe in here, Saige."

She turned, but I caught her arm. "I want to help. I owe it to you, don't I? You saved my life."

"Can you use a weapon?" she asked. I wasn't quite sure where'd she'd get one—I didn't see anything in here except for her sword.

"Well…I can use a knife or a dagger, but I'm…" I struggled to remember what I was before. "I'm a strategist…by trade. I can direct you in a fight, but I'm no use with a sword, axe, or a lance."

"Ah…I see…" she glanced back towards the doorway as the bandits came closer. "…an odd profession, but…very well. We'll go together!" I snatched up my dagger—its hilt also had jade inlayed in it, and intricate silver patterns danced across the sheath—just in case, as I followed her outside, back into the blinding sun.

And so my journey began…

**A/N: I may just edit the first chapter myself and upload it tonight since this is so short…**


	2. Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate

**A/N: Hopefully my writing will be better in this one than it is in the first few chapters of the other story.**

Chapter 1—Footsteps of Fate

_The apprentice tactician Saige and the young swordfighter Lyn. A strange pair on an even stranger journey. To prepare for the long road ahead, they go to Bulgar, the commercial center of Sacae. Unbeknownst to Lyn, she will discover something that will alter her life forever._

"Saige! Over here! This is Bulgar, the biggest city in all of Sacae. We should purchase supplies for our journey." Lyn said to me as we passed through the city gates. There were merchants lining the streets, calling out to passers-by.

"Lovely ladies!" one of them said to us. "Would you care to buy my jewelry?" He fanned his hand out, gesturing to his table. "It's all authentic gold, silver, and precious gems."

"I doubt that." I mumbled. "No thank you. We're here for supplies—do you know where we might purchase vulneraries and a weapon or two?"

The man sat back in his chair, disappointed that we hadn't bought anything of his, but answered nonetheless. "Over there," he used his thumb to indicate the stall next to his. "you can buy vulneraries. Down at the end of the street is where you'll find the weaponsmaster."

I thanked him, before purchasing three vulneraries from the woman next to him, and talked her out of a map.

"Now we just have to get you a better weapon." I said to Lyn, who nodded. "A swordswoman as good as yourself shouldn't have to wield an iron sword."

"I'm not _that_ good." She muttered as we navigated the street, dodging and weaving around the crowds of people.

"Oh, but you are. I may not have seen much of your sword fighting skills yet, but I know that you're a lot better than I am." I gave her a small smile as we reached the weaponsmasters' stall. There were axes, lances, bows, knives, and swords all stored in racks along the front of his table.

"That's because you've never been trained…"

"No, Lyn, I've tried it—" I wasn't quite sure how I knew, but I was sure that someone had attempted to teach me how to wield a sword at one point. "—and I was no good at it whatsoever. I'm an intellectual person, not a physical one." I turned to the weaponsmaster—who was looking impatient, as we had been standing in front of his stall while we had this conversation—and asked, "Do you have a steel sword, by any chance?"

He shook his head. "No, today has been a busy day—the whole week has been, really—and they're sold out."

I sighed. "Then I guess I'll take an iron sword. How much?"

"Five hundred gold pieces."

"Don't you think that's a bit…pricey for an _iron_ sword? What about three hundred?" I held up my rather light-weight coin purse. "That's all I have."

The weaponsmaster pursed his lips, but took our money anyway. "Fine."

I handed Lyn the sword—which was kept in a cotton cloth—as we turned away from the stall and more people quickly took our place. "Sorry about that, Lyn. I really wanted to get you a steel one, but…"

"Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!" I looked up as a man clad in green plate approached us, his brown hair askew. "Wait, O beauteous one! Would you not favor me with your name? Or better yet, your company?" This man was certainly a charmer…not.

"Where are you from, sir knight, that you speak so freely to a stranger?" there was a tone of disapproval in Lyn's voice, but this knight seemed not to notice.

"Ha! I thought you'd never ask. I am from Lycia. I hail from the Caelin canton, home to men of passion and fire!" he raised a fist to emphasize his point.

"Shouldn't that be 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'?" Lyn's voice was cold.

"Ooooh... You're even lovely when you're cruel."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. If he really wanted to get a woman—for good, at least, this might work on easily flattered women, but her affection wouldn't last very long—he shouldn't have acted so desperate.

"Let's go, Saige. I've nothing more to say." Lyn said, before grabbing my wrist with her free hand and dragging me away. "We still need to find a place to buy a map and some provisions." I didn't bother to tell her that we already got a map and that we had enough food to last us until we got to the next town.

_~Kent~_

"Wait! Please..." he stretched his hand out after the two women, but neither even paused.

"Sain! Hold your tongue!" Kent rebuked as he led their horses over.

"Ah, Kent! My boon companion! Why so severe an expression?"

"If your manner were more serious, I wouldn't have to be so severe! We still have a mission to complete, Sain!"

"I know that. But how could I remain silent in the presence of such beauty? It would have been discourteous!"

"What do you know about courtesy!"

The young woman with long, curly brown hair had come back, the green-haired swordswoman reluctantly in tow. "Excuse me! You're blocking the road. If you would be so kind as to move your horses..."

"Of course. My apologies..." Kent said, moving to the left, and pulling the reins gently—and thus, the horses—with him.

"Thank you. You, at least, seem honorable enough."

"Hm? Pardon me, but...I feel we've met before." Kent's brow furrowed as he gazed at the swordswoman.

"I beg your pardon?" she seemed a little confused as well.

"Hey! No fair, Kent! I saw her first!" Sain butt in, glaring at his companion.

"Tsk! It seems there are no decent men among Lycia's knights! Let's go, Saige! I've run out of patience!" she grabbed the wrist of the other woman and began to drag her away for the second time.

"Wait, please! It's not like that!" Kent called out after them, but they were already gone. "Sain, you lout!" he turned to the other knight.

"Huh? Not like that? I thought you were..."

"I am _not_ you! Come, we must follow her! I suspect she might be—"

"Be what? She's our mission? You're joking!" Sain said as Kent quickly mounted his horse. "Wait!"

_~Saige~_

"Run! We're being pursued! Could it be those knights from town?" Lyn looked behind us.

"No... It's not them. These men are out for blood!" I said, gripping my dagger as one of the men came closer.

"Heh heh hehhh... Aren't you the pretty one! Your name is Lyndis, is it not?

"What did you call me? ...Who are you?" Lyn asked, her hand lying on the hilt of her sword casually.

"Such a waste. An absolute waste. The things I'd do for gold... Ah, well. Time to die, darlin'! C'mon out, boys!" At the man's call, five more bandits appeared around us at the edge of the forest.

"There are more than I can handle... But I'll not give up!" Lyn said to me, determined.

"Hey! There she is!" there it was again, that familiar voice.

"What?" I said, puzzled as I turned to see the two knights from before.

"Whew... Finally caught up... Hold! You there! What is your business? Such numbers against a couple of girls? Cowards, every one of you!" Sain exclaimed, hefting his lance.

"You! You're from—"

"We can discuss that later. It appears these ruffians mean to do you harm. If it's a fight they want, let them look to me!" Kent said, drawing his sword.

"Stand back! I'll take care of this!"

"No! This is my fight! Stay out of my way!" Lyn said, stepping between the two of them and the bandits.

"Well, I can't just stand here and do nothing..." Sain said, seeming a little taken-aback.

"I have a solution." Kent interjected, before looking to me. "You there, command us. I am Kent, a knight of Lycia. My companion is Sain. We will follow your orders in this battle. Is that acceptable, milady?"

"Yes, it is. Saige and I will lead! Let's go!"

"Now…how should I do this…?" I muttered, looking over the bandits as they drew closer, though they had slowed their pace with wariness now that the two knights had joined us.

"O fair and beauteous one! And...Saige, is it? Allow me to show you the might of a knight of Lycia! Let me be the first to strike a blow in your honor!" Sain declared.

I gave him an annoyed glance, but granted his wishes. "Fine. Go after that bandit there." I pointed to one that was alarmingly close to our position.

As Sain rode out to strike against him, the bandit quickly backpedaled into the trees again. The knight didn't slow, however, and thrust his lance forward. The tip passed right by the bandit, and Sain barely withdrew in time before the man snapped the shaft of the lance with his axe.

"Whoa! I missed!" Sain was incredulous, as he was forced to retreat a couple of yards.

"Sain! Why aren't you using your sword?" Kent called out to the baffled knight.

"The lance is more heroic. A knight should look heroic, don't you think?"

I brought a hand up to my temple and shook a head at this.

"You're hopeless. If you don't take fighting more seriously, you're going to find yourself on the end of a blade!" Kent continued to berate him.

"Truth be told, I...forgot to buy a sword."

Through this, the bandit had opted to stay where he was, seeing the advantage he had over the knight.

"Forgot? Or were you simply too busy dallying with the ladies?"

"Don't be so mad! I'll be fine with a lance. I'm that good!"

"I'd prefer to rely on your skill, not your empty bragging! Take my spare blade and use it to attack next time!" Kent unstrapped the second sword from his horse's saddle and tossed it to Sain, who caught it by the sheathed blade, just barely.

"Are you sure? My thanks, Kent!" he somehow managed to unsheathe the blade without cutting himself or dropping his lance. He attacked with the sword first—which the bandit blocked with his axe—before lunging forward with his lance.

"You're almost more trouble than you're worth. Almost." Kent said, too quietly for the other knight to hear, before turning his attention back to me. "Saige! Allow me to make up for my companion's blunder. I am at your command!"

"Erm…" I paused for a second. I wasn't used to this "ordering people around" thing. I knew I had never really used my tactics in a true fight before I had met Lyn. I told Kent to attack the next bandit that was close to us, but he hesitated.

"Shouldn't I fight their leader? He's farther away, and I'd be able to reach him faster than your companion." Kent said. I cursed inwardly—what a way to make a good impression as a tactician. What Kent had said was basic logic, and yet I hadn't realized this.

"Of course. But you'll have to fight off the other bandit at the same time…" I paused, before realizing that he could probably handle it, seeing that so far he'd been the better of the two knights. "I'm sure you'll be fine." I quickly moved to Lyn, as Kent rode off. "And I guess you can attack the last bandit—"

"Saige, look out!" Lyn pushed me out of the way with one hand, while drawing her sword in a lightning-fast movement and bringing it up to parry the bandit's axe.

"Sorry, girlie, but you'll never win." He chuckled as he pulled his axe up, and with it came Lyn's sword, which flew through the air and landed tip first in the soft ground.

"A blade catch?"

The bandit was clearly planning on killing Lyn with his next strike—there was a good probability that Lyn would simply dodge it and pick up her sword, but I wasn't about to take that chance. I leaped forward, my dagger already in hand, before sinking it into the bandit's neck.

"And now for these knights of Lycia. You were going to share your story with me?" Lyn said. The battle was over—Kent had single-handedly killed the remaining two bandits—and we were now gathered back on the side of the road.

"Yes. We have ventured from Caelin, in Lycia, in search of someone." Kent said.

"Lycia... That's the country beyond the mountains in the south-west, isn't it?" Lyn asked—clearly thinking back to when I went over the map with her briefly while we were in Bulgar. We had only had moments, but it seemed that the swordswoman had a pretty good memory.

"Correct. We've come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some nineteen years ago."

"Madelyn?"

"Our lord the marquess of Caelin's only daughter. He was heartbroken his own daughter would abandon him so. Eventually, the marquess simply declared that he had no daughter."

"And then, this year, we received a letter from Lady Madelyn. It said she, her husband, and their daughter were living happily on the Sacae plains. The marquess was ecstatic to learn he had a granddaughter of eighteen years. I remember the smile on his face when he announced that he'd suddenly become a grandfather. The granddaughter's name is Lyndis. This was also the name of the marquess's wife, who passed away at an early age." Sain continued what Kent had been saying.

"Lyndis?" the look on Lyn's face was unreadable, but by the tone of her voice she had heard the name before. As had I…but I couldn't quite place it.

"That she should bear this name thawed the marquess's heart. Now, his only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. This is why we're here. We didn't know that Lady Madelyn died a few days after sending her letter... We only learnt this shortly after arriving here in Bulgar."

"But we also learned all was not lost. Her daughter yet lives. We heard that she was living alone on the plains... I... I knew it immediately. You are the lady Lyndis."

"Why would you think that...?" Lyn said—but I thought it would be fairly obvious, being that her name was 'Lyn,' which would definitely be an abbreviation for 'Lyndis.' Then again, that wouldn't explain how Kent had known it was her, since he hadn't known her name.

"Your resemblance to your departed mother is remarkable."

"What? Did you know my mother?"

"I'm sorry to say that I never met her directly, but I saw her portraits in Castle Caelin."

"To the rest of my tribe, I was always Lyn. But when I was with my parents... When it was just the three of us, I was Lyndis. It's all so strange. I was all alone in the world, and now I have a grandfather. Lyndis... I never thought I would hear that name again."

"Lyn…" then it all clicked. "That bandit—he called you Lyndis as well!"

"What? How could he have—"

Sain cut Kent off, "He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren, wasn't he?"

"Lundgren? Who's that?" Lyn asked—I didn't know the name either.

"He's the marquess's younger brother. Everyone assumed the lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren heir to the marquess's title."

"To be blunt, milady, your existence is an obstacle to your granduncle's ambitions."

"That's—but I have no interest in inheriting any title!" Lyn exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, your granduncle is not the sort of man to believe that. I believe the attempts on your life will persist."

"What should I do?" Lyn asked me more than the two knights, but Kent answered anyway.

"Accompany us to Caelin. Continuing on this way is dangerous."

Lyn paused, before saying reluctantly, "I feel I have little choice. I will go with you." She looked to me, "What about you, Saige? What will you do?"

"I would accompany you if you wish it…but you should decide."

"What do you two think?" Lyn asked the two knights. "I want her to come, but what about you? She would make our journey considerably easier…"

"She should come with us! How could we leave behind such a beautiful angel?" I rolled my eyes at Sain's comment—though I could feel the slight blush that colored my cheeks—where was his creativity?

"Your help would be greatly appreciated." Kent said to me as he gave Sain a sharp look.

"Then it's settled. I'll come with you, Lyn."


End file.
